The meeting was co-chaired by Ms Joanneke Balfoort, Director for Security and Defence Policy at the EEAS, and Mr Sandeep Arya, Joint Secretary for Disarmament and International Security Affairs at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
After the first meeting in this format last year, Operation ATALANTA and the Indian Navy conducted a joint naval exercise in June 2021. It was the first EU-India joint naval exercise, which took place last June - a complex and substantial exercise, which involved five ships and lasted two days.
The EU Critical Maritime Routes in the Indo-Pacific (CRIMARIO) project conducted several workshops and meetings, including an Interoperability Workshop with India’s Maritime Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR). In September 2021, the EU adopted a Strategy on Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, including the prospect of expanding the Coordinated Maritime Presence concept to the Northwestern Indian Ocean, in order to enhance synergies and information exchanges among the stakeholders.
EU NAVFOR will also continue to strengthen its network with regional states to identify the potential for coordination and synergies. This network for cooperation is at the heart of the Cooperation Concept of Operation Atalanta (COCOA), which aims at a broader collaboration between ATALANTA and the maritime stakeholders of the EU Member States and of other nations.
ATALANTA looks forward to deepen its engagement and reinforce its partnership with India as a reliable partner for maritime security in the Indo-Pacific.
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